PLYMOUTH, Mass. - While many non-Native Americans sit down with their friends or families for a holiday meal tomorrow, some Indigenous communities in Massachusetts will gather in Plymouth - not for Thanksgiving, but for what they call the National Day of Mourning.

Since 1970, Indigenous residents have protested on this day, as a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands and erasure of Native cultures. Mahtowin Munro, a co-leader with United American Indians of New England, said it's a protest against racism and oppression that Indigenous people still face.

"In particular, on National Day of Mourning, through our work," she said, "we've been popping a hole in the bubble that is the national myth about the Pilgrims, the Thanksgiving myth."

In American school lessons, Munro said, Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving meal are glorified. But she said this obscures the
truth of what happened - and that according to Native historians, the first proclaimed "day of thanksgiving" actually followed the massacre of up to 700 Pequot men, women and children in what is now Connecticut.

According to the most recent Census survey, more than 90,000 Native American and Alaskan Native people live in the Commonwealth. Munro added that even more Indigenous people from Mayan and Andean cultures often are categorized as Hispanic or Latino. She said there are many more Indigenous residents of Massachusetts than non-Natives realize, who have to combat persistent stereotypes and assumptions.

"As Indigenous people, we're taught to give thanks every day, and we do," she said. "But we're not going to give thanks for the invasion of Native homelands and the theft of our land, and the oppression of our people."

She said the General Assembly is considering five pieces of legislation that address Indigenous concerns. One bill would create and implement Native curricula in schools, since there currently is nothing about contemporary Indigenous cultures. Others would ban the use of Native mascots in schools, create Indigenous People's Day statewide, protect sacred Native American heritage items and improve educational outcomes for Native students.

NEW YORK -- A team of New York-based filmmakers is producing a documentary about reclaiming Indigenous heritage, told through the experiences of an 18-year-old descendant of a U.S. Indian boarding-school survivor.

The story centers on Ku Stevens, a top-ranking Nevada athlete who organized a run along the 50-mile escape route his great-grandfather Frank Quinn took, fleeing from the Stewart Indian Boarding School to the Yerington Paiute reservation.

Paige Bethmann, director and producer of the "Remaining Native" documentary, who is Mohawk and Oneida, said it is named after the idea that he used his legs to preserve his identity, something she feels many Indigenous people are struggling with.

"Trying to preserve our cultural identities, our tradition, our language, because of how many obstacles the United States has put in front of Indigenous people, to get rid of that aspect," Bethmann outlined.

The film also follows the first federal investigation into the U.S. boarding schools, where Native American children were brought, and then abused if they spoke their native languages. It is estimated there were nearly 500 government-funded Indian boarding schools in the nation, including in New York state.

Bethmann's great-grandmother also was a U.S. residential school survivor. Bethmann pointed out making the film has helped her understand the complexities of her cultural identity and community.

"That's what this film has brought to me, is that pride in being Native American," Bethmann explained, "But also rebuilding a sense of myself that I felt like I've lost for so many years."

Production for "Remaining Native" started shortly after more than 1,300 unmarked graves were found near the sites of former Indian Residential Schools in Canada. Bethmann noted policies such as boarding schools and land removal were designed to disenfranchise Indigenous people.

"The biggest gap of understanding is the fact that we are here, despite all of those obstacles that we face that are not just something that is a relic of the past," Bethmann asserted.

The team plans to embed themselves in the community in the new year to keep a closer eye on the investigation at Stewart Indian Boarding School. Bethmann said the film will be released as early as 2023.

LAUGHLIN, Nev. -- This week marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving meal, and many Native American tribes are asking other Americans to face some hard truths. They noted Indigenous people lost most of their land and a great many lives to disease and war following the arrival of the settlers.

Taylor Patterson, executive director of the Native Voters Alliance Nevada and a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe, is among those calling for change.

"I hate the idea that we're celebrating a history that is so false and misrepresented," Patterson remarked. "I think people are so willing to remember Thanksgiving and remember colonization, but not remember the effects that it had on the communities of people that were already living here."

Native American advocacy groups argued the story about Thanksgiving most Americans were taught in elementary school is a fable. They believe it should be replaced with an honest accounting of the suffering the tribes endured.

Patterson pointed out the country can turn over a new leaf by listening to native voices and uplifting native causes.

"People can kind of change the narrative of Thanksgiving and move past that history now, and give the land and the people the respect that it deserves," Patterson contended.

This year President Joe Biden named Deb Haaland, a Native American leader, as U.S. Interior Secretary.

Tribes in Nevada want the administration to create a new national monument at their most sacred site, known as Avi Kwa Ame or Spirit Mountain, in southwest Nevada. The area is revered by 12 Yuman tribes and is at the center of their creation stories.

LA PLANT, S.D. -- South Dakota has struggled to establish a network of foster parents in tribal communities, but solutions are in play, including a space where Indigenous children can feel as close to home as possible.

Over the years, South Dakota has been criticized for often placing Indigenous children with white families through aggressive custody hearing, inspiring outreach efforts to recruit foster parents in tribal areas.

Marcella Gilbert, a Lakota and Dakota community organizer on the Cheyenne River Reservation, works with the nonprofit Simply Smiles, which has been building homes for local kids in need of care.

She stressed the importance of giving kids a professional and nurturing support system, even when they turn 18.

"It isn't like, 'Okay, you're done. See you,'" Gilbert asserted. "It's like, 'Okay, let's talk about what you want to do here. Do you want to go to college? Do you want to go to job training? You know, what do you want to do? We'll help you do that.'"

Gilbert pointed out because the foster-care system is not aligned with Native American culture, the homes allow kids to maintain their identity.

Prospective foster parents are trained to care for the kids through therapy and other standard practices.

Gilbert explained only six homes are being built, so the occupants don't feel like they're in a residential setting. So far, three are finished.

Alex Gross, communications manager for Simply Smiles, said by offering an environment steeped in Lakota traditions, kids are likely to have a greater sense of belonging, even if they've dealt with trauma in the past.

"We are doing everything to make sure that they remain with their kin and community," Gross stated. "That includes working with a team of Lakota elders. We call them the 'grandmothers group.'"

Simply Smiles urged local families interested in becoming trained foster parents to visit the group's website.

Statewide, the Department of Social Services has launched a campaign to recruit more foster families in tribal areas.

Laurie Gill, South Dakota Secretary of Social Services, sees hope in reaching their goal of 300.

"We have met 42% of our first-year goal, and we launched this in May," Gill emphasized. "So, we're very pleased with the progress."